


Tea and Flowers

by Pikkulef



Series: Ripper Street Writing Club [2]
Category: Ripper Street
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 08:02:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11226741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikkulef/pseuds/Pikkulef
Summary: Work #2 for the #rswritingclub on tumblr. I just decided to post them here, because. Short, silly works for now, but who knows.Careful, these were not edited and writen as always at the last minute. Or after.





	Tea and Flowers

The doorbell of the tea shop let out a soft, musical carillon when Bella pushed the door.  
“Oh, Bennet! It’s so beautiful in here!”  
Drake noticed she had instinctively kept her voice low, according herself to the soft chatter of the fancy ladies and few gents inside. One of the little things he had started noticing, often. He smiled and followed her in.  
It was a nice place indeed. The walls were pastel green, the woodworks painted white, and the wide windows let in a lot of light from the calm street outside. The resulting atmosphere had some sort of soft cheerfulness to it, just like she who accompanied him. Bennet would have to thank the inspector for the tip… or not. He knew why he had so eagerly offered to give him a good address to bring Bella after a stroll. He brushed the thought off. No need to think about his superior right now. Or about _her_.

They sat, him rather awkwardly, her never departing from her sweet, appeasing smile. An angel. She took his hand in hers, over the dried flowers placed on the centre of the table.  
“But you needn’t have brought me here,” she almost whispered, “It’s too fancy, and must be so expensive… a little place in Whitechapel would have been just as good.  
“Do you… do you want to go back to Whitechapel?” They were not far, only a few streets away. But in a part of London that was a lot nicer. He suddenly felt scared, just as scared as he could have been all these years ago. Talking to a woman could be just as frightening as war… But it was not about the price.  
“Do  _you_ , Bennet? I find this place delightful, but I do not want to cost you.  
“My Bella.” He smiled again, his fright disappeared, and held her gloved hands tighter when she smiled back to him. A smile a lot wider than before, with her eyes sparkling.  
“You do not cost me. I wanted to bring you to a special place. Whitechapel has nothing special nor new to us, has it?  
“No, indeed.” She chuckled, and looked around, her cheeks turning pink. “But I… I do feel out of place.  
“Then, we are out of place together.” She might feel out of place, but she was no less beautiful than the other ladies in the shop.  Bennet liked her simpler light blue dress. He wanted nothing fancier than her.

A waitress came, asked for their choices of drink, and left. They chatted, but left long pauses where they would stay silent, just enjoying each other’s company. It happened often, now that Drake visited her regularly. They were calming, happy moments. The waitress came back with their tea and biscuits, and left again. Drake chose this instant to talk, but as he opened his mouth, Bella was quicker than him.

“A charming place, fine tea and biscuits… I am starting to wonder if you have something else on your mind for today, my dear Bennet.” The amused, knowing light in her eye, while she drank from her cup, was unmistakable. Drake hesitated, but somehow, suddenly, it felt easy. Somehow, he realized he didn’t feel like he needed to impress her, to make a big thing out of this. He just wanted a nice and cosy place for it, and this tea shop fit perfectly. He cleared his throat, took her hand again, and started, same light in his eye than in her, in only a half mock solemn tone:  

“My Bella, I must confess to you a secret that I’ve been keeping…” 


End file.
